According to the article, Bitcoin “is not likely to make too much of a splash in Costa Rica”. The coin would “probably appeal to many Ticos who do not trust in their Central Bank’s ability to balance the value of the national currency against inflation and pressure from other currencies such as the United States dollar”, but that’s not the only requirement.

People at Costa Rica enjoy technology and would love to have an alternative, but what’s at stake here is the “bad reputation” of the cryptocurrency. Besides all the legal problems that Bitcoin-related exchanges and companies are facing in the United States, the Costa Rica Star news story says that “computer users in Costa Rica could be helping unscrupulous Bitcoin miners to get rich at their expense without even being aware of it”.

“Recent reports by computer security experts have uncovered the international spread of malware designed to allow a zombie Bitcoin mining network to use up the resources of infected computers. (…) Such news reports will only contribute to the apprehension among Ticos towards the use of Bitcoin“, adds the news piece.

However, there might be a light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to some visionaries, like David Alfaro: the software engineer, for instance, claims he’s willing to develop Bitcoin solutions in Costa Rica.

People like him keep pushing cryptocurrency into the country and some changes are obvious: “Bitcoin use is slowly growing” in the Costa Rica. The platform LocalBitcoins.com shows some regular cryptocurrency users located in Costa Rica who are ready to acquire or sell currency online.

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Maria is an experienced journalist currently living in the UK. She has been writing about Bitcoin and the altcoin universe since 2013. She is also a member of the Lifeboat Foundation's New Money Systems Board and a big cryptocurrency supporter.